Master New Clubs: Tweak Fittings For Perfect Gapping

As a teaching professional, I’ve seen countless golfers, from aspiring tour players to dedicated weekend warriors, searching for that edge. They obsess over their swing, their short game, their putting stroke – and rightly so! But often, they overlook a critical component that can unlock serious confidence and lower scores: properly fitted and gapped clubs. And more specifically, understanding that club fitting isn’t a “one and done” deal.

Think about it: you would never expect a tailor to fit you for a custom suit, and then never adjust it after you’ve worn it a few times, right? Your golf clubs are no different. They are an extension of your game, and just like your swing evolves, so too can the optimal setup of your equipment. This is especially true for your wedges, which are precision tools for scoring.

The Critical Second Act of Club Fitting: Gapping

I recently read an excellent piece on The Fully Equipped podcast where Johnny Wunder and Morrow discussed the crucial, often overlooked, second step in the club fitting process: gapping. You get fit, you order your clubs, they arrive, and you’re excited. Mission accomplished, right? Not quite. This is where many golfers stop, and it’s a missed opportunity.

What is gapping? In simple terms, it’s ensuring that the distance gaps between your clubs are consistent and predictable. For wedges, this means knowing exactly how far each wedge (pitching, gap, sand, and lob) carries for your specific swing. This isn’t just about total distance; it’s about reliable, repeatable distances so you can comfortably pick the right club for those crucial scoring shots around the green.

Johnny Wunder’s experience with his new Vokey SM11 wedges perfectly illustrates this point. After his initial fitting, he went back to the Titleist Performance Institute to tweak them for proper gapping. This wasn’t just about minor adjustments; it was about dialing in the tools to perfectly suit his game.

“I would say probably 65, 70 percent confident that you weren’t going to have to change anything about the setup of those wedges, like whether it was tweaking lofts and lies or whatever,” Morrow said. “And then you came out of that gapping session and you said, you’re like, dude, that was great. Like you’re like, I had such a good time. I felt like I just unlocked every bit of confidence I have out of that set of wedges. And I think that actually might be like a bigger point to bring up too — something we haven’t talked about a ton — is there are stages to club fitting.”

That feeling of unlocking confidence? That’s what we’re after! A well-gapped set of wedges gives you a clearer mind on the course, knowing that when you pull a certain club, it’s going to perform exactly as expected.

Titleist Vokey SM11 Tour Chrome Wedge

Titleist Vokey Design’s new SM11 wedges feature a new precise CG position across each grind in a loft, meaning every wedge will now perform the same way with the same strike.

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Why Gapping Matters to Your Game

For high-level amateurs and professionals, precise gapping is non-negotiable. Knowing whether your 50-degree wedge carries 95 yards or 100 yards can be the difference between a birdie putt and a bogey. But this isn’t just for the pros! Every golfer can benefit from this level of precision. Eliminating those “in-between” yardages frees you up to commit fully to your swing, rather than trying to manufacture a half-swing or a choked-down shot that you don’t practice regularly.

The new Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges, for example, boast a “precise CG position across each grind in a loft.” This type of engineering ensures consistency, but it’s still up to *you* and your fitter to dial them in for *your* swing.

Actionable Drills: Dialing in Your Wedge Gaps

Here are a few drills you can use to understand and improve your wedge gapping, either on your own or, ideally, with your fitter:

Drill 1: The “Ladder” Carry Test

Purpose: To establish accurate carry distances for your wedges (and other irons).
How to do it:

1. Head to the range with a launch monitor (or a perfectly flat range with good yardage markers).
2. Take your pitching wedge (PW). Hit 10-15 full swings, focusing on solid contact. Record the carry distance for each shot. Discard any egregious mishits.
3. Calculate the average carry distance for your PW.
4. Repeat this process for your gap wedge (GW), sand wedge (SW), and lob wedge (LW).
5. Compare your average carry distances. Ideally, you want fairly consistent gaps (e.g., 10-15 yards) between each club.

Why it works: This drill gives you hard data. You might think your GW carries 105 yards, but the data might show it’s actually 98. This allows you to adjust your club selection on the course with confidence.

Drill 2: The Half-Swing and Three-Quarter Swing Check

Purpose: To understand your controlled distance for partial wedge shots, which are critical around the green.
How to do it:

1. Choose one wedge (e.g., your sand wedge).
2. Practice “clock-face” swings. Start with your lead arm at 9 o’clock (or a “half-swing”). Hit 10-15 shots, focusing on repeatable tempo and finish. Record the carry.
3. Then, try a “three-quarter” swing (lead arm to 10 or 11 o’clock). Hit 10-15 shots and record the carry.
4. Repeat for your other wedges.

Why it works: Most approach shots aren’t full-bore swings. Knowing your partial swing distances adds another layer of precision to your short game. This data is invaluable when you’re 60 yards out and need to decide between a soft sand wedge or a firm gap wedge.

Drill 3: Trust Your Fitter, Revisit Often

This isn’t a swing drill, but it’s perhaps the most important “practice” you can do for your equipment. As Morrow emphasizes:

“When you get with a good club fitter, first off, you should try to find a club fitter that you trust to continue to visit,” Morrow added. “Whether your frequency is once a year, every couple of years, once every six months, whatever it is, finding a fitter that you trust with your game is huge because you can do things like revisit them and say, ‘Hey, we got fit for these, but now can you gap them for me so that I still know that you’re OK with what I’m playing?’”

My teaching experience tells me that golfers who actively engage with their fitter beyond the initial purchase consistently perform better. It builds a relationship of trust and ensures your equipment is always optimized for your current swing. Your swing can change, your strength can fluctuate, and even the natural wear and tear on clubs can affect their performance (think weakened lofts over time!). A trusted fitter can address all these variables.

Ultimately, golf is a game of confidence. When you stand over a ball, 75 yards from the pin, and you know – truly know – that your perfectly gapped 54-degree wedge will land exactly where you want it, that’s a powerful feeling. Don’t let the fitting process end with the order form. Embrace the “stages of club fitting” and unlock the full potential of your game. You absolutely can improve, and precise gapping is a huge step in the right direction!